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IBF/WBA junior welterweight beltholder Lamont Peterson took time to share with RingTV.com concerning why he chose a May 19 return bout with Amir Khan, whom he dethroned in December by split-decision in December, over an offer to face RING lightweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez on July 14 at the Dallas Cowboys Stadium.

The winner of Marquez-Peterson was to get a shot at the winner of Manny Pacquiaovs. Tim Bradley, which is set to take place on June 9 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

“It took a lot of patience. We’re not signed with a promoter. We know that at this time, the promoter is not going to have our best interest at heart. So we have to make sure that everything is secured and everything. I have to make sure that I’m comfortable,” said Peterson, who credits his manager and trainer, Barry Hunter, his publicist, Andre Johnson, and his attorney, Jeff Fried.

“The entire team is comfortable with the decision in every aspect of the fight deal. So, I kind of left it to Barry and them to go out and structure the deal. I left it to Andre, Barry and Jeff to structure the deal, and they came back to me and told me pretty much the structure of everything and asked me how I felt about it, and how I thought about it. I would say, ‘yes or no,’ about this, and if I didn’t like something, they would go back and tell them that I didn’t.”

Peterson admitted that the deal to face the Pacquiao-Bradley winner, coupled with that against Marquez, all from Top Rank Inc., was tempting.

“With Timothy and with Pacquiao and Marquez, you know, Marquez is a great fighter. To have the chance to face him and to have him on my resume would have been a big step in my career. If I won that fight, then I would fight the winner of the one between Pacquiao and Bradley, and Pacquiao is another great fighter,” said Peterson, whose lone defeat was by unanimous decision to Bradley in 2009.

“Pacquiao, of course, would have been great for my resume. Or getting a rematch with Timothy, which is my only loss, and to be able to show that I had improved. To get that victory would have meant a whole lot to me. I know that that’s a fight that has to happen, and that has to happen.”

But Peterson said one of the reasons he chose Khan is that there was no guarantee that he would get Pacquiao in the event that he won, given that there is speculation that the WBO beltholder could seek a November bout with Mayweather.

“It wasn’t solid enough for me. There were a lot of ‘if’s.’ At the end of the day, the Khan fight was solid,” said Peterson. “I know that I wanted to fight him, and I know that he wanted to fight me. It was more solid and it was a structured contract that I liked, and that the whole team liked. So, we went with that one.”